Overview
This lesson demonstrates the constructivist methodologies of questioning
strategies and their use in mock trials. It features ninth-grade civics
students at Southwest High School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in a simulation
of a U.S. Supreme Court hearing concerning a First Amendment case. The
case is about a Texas school district that appealed a lower court decision
directing them to discontinue having a student deliver a prayer over the
intercom before football games. The case was originally brought against
the school district by a group of parents. The Southwest students--who
do not know the actual outcome of the case at the start of the lesson--assume
the roles of Supreme Court Justices and attorneys. Over a three-day period,
students first work in groups to prepare for the hearing as their teacher,
Kristen Borges, guides them with strategically asked questions, then participate
in the hearing, and finally, debrief their experiences and write a short
essay stating their position on the case, including the benefits and potential
problems to society of their recommended decision.

Goals
The goals of this lesson are twofold:

to explore the structure and process used by the United States Supreme
Court in interpreting and applying the Constitution, and

to apply those operational principles to a case previously decided
by the Court.

Planning
Students have spent a significant amount of time looking at the documents
that our government is based on. They have examined the Declaration of
Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Early in
the year, Kristen Borges concentrated on the vocabulary of the documents,
specifically looking at the language that the founders used. More recently,
she has had students interpret the documents in their own language. Students
have been discussing the original intent of the founders and exploring
how a document that was written more than 200 years ago can be applied
to current issues in our society, particularly controversial ones.

The students have looked at how the federal judicial branch is structured
and local lawyers have explained about different types of courts and how
they argue cases. The class studied the structure of the Supreme Court
and the process of appointing Supreme Court Justices, including the influence
of politics in the appointment process. It has also considered how a Supreme
Court hearing is organized and how the Justices deliberate and reach decisions.

Before this lesson begins, students will have learned and practiced the
skills used by both the Justices and attorneys appearing before the Supreme
Court and will have applied them to several cases, including Tinker
v. Des Moines. They also will have selected the roles they want to
assume in this project.